Hat-clipping machine



Apr; l?, 1923.

' F. E. KAUFFMANN HAT C LIPPING MACHINE Filed Nov. 6, 1920 ASZAMS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Apr. 17, lf3.

F. E. KAUFFMANN HAT CLIPING MACHINE Filed Nov. 6, 1920 3 sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR L45243 F. E. KAUFFMANN HAT CLIPPING MACHINE Filed NOV. 6, 1920 3` Sheets$heet 3 MENTOR y Patented Apr. 17, 1923.,

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HAT-CLIPPING MACHINE.

Application filed November 6, 1920,

T @ZZ 107mm t may concern:

Be it known that l, FERDINAND E. KAUFE- i\IANN,'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rahway, county of Union, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat-Clipping Machines, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to an improved machine for clipping hats made of velour or similar material, such hats being formerly clipped as a hat body before it was formed with a brim, by passing it through machines that clipped it in flat form, or handl clippers have been slowly passed over the outside of the hat, in which case the degree of finish depended very much on the care or thoroughness with which the operator did the work.

The invention is designed to provide a niachine which clips the hat body quickly over itsentire surface, and is also designed to leave no portion thereof unclipped, the manual operation necessary being only suoli as will start or stop the machine and inserting or removing the hat.

The invention is designed to provide a machine of this kind in which clipping devices are brought to bear on a hat body which is supported so that it rotates, the parts being constructed so that they are movable relative to each other in order that the clipping `devices may traverse the entire surface of the hat. I prefer to arrange the clipping devices so that one of them clips the crown, another the top of the brim and another the bottom of the brim. f

The invention is further designed to provide a machine of this kind in which the arrangement of the parts issuch that the machine is compact and small, and in which the clippings are carried from the machine, and also to provide for a raising of the nap of the velour or similar fabric so that an even cut. is brought about curing the 'clipping operation.

The invention further consists of certain details of construction which will be hereinafter more rfully described and finally embodied in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front view of one forni of my improved inachine, and Figure 2 is a detail of a portionof the mechanism that swings the hat support. Figure 3 is a side view of the machine Serial No. 422,205.

shown in Figure 1. Figure l is a top view, somewhat diagrammatic, showing the inanner in which the hat isswung so that all its parts come in Contact with the clipping device. F igure 5 is a horizontal section of one of the clipping devices with a rotary cutter shown partly in elevation, such section being taken on the line 5-5 in Figure G. Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a detail section taken on line 7 in Figure 5, and Figure 8 is an elevation of one side of the floor plate of the clipping device,

The machine as illustrated is supported on a table 10 which in turn rests on suitable legs or other supports, which are not shown. The hat supporting part of the machine is constructed to support the hat so that it can rotate, so that it can slide while it is rotating and can also be swung.

The form 0f structure illustrated coinprises a standard 11 which is arranged with the hub 12 in the bearings 13 on the table so that it can be swung by means to be hereinafter more fully described, and has at the top thereof a bearing 14E in which the shaft 15 rotates, the shaft 15 being driven by gears 16 and 17 from a iexible shaft 18 which receives its power from the main shaft 19 by means of the gears 20 and 21. The block 22 is used to hold the hat 23 and is made so'as to approximate the shape and. size of the crown when it is shaped or taut. Since the hat is formed before it is clipped by this machine, the brim 24e extends transversely or laterally from the hat block, vas will be clearly evident from Figures 1 and 3. T he bracket 25 is secured to the standard 11, the bracket having on its extremity a bearing 27 for the end of the shaft 15, the shaft being secured by feathers or other means for permitting its sliding longitudinally relative to the gear 16 and also the gear 28, which is in mesh with the gear 29, which gear 29 is on a supplemental shaft with the cam 30, which cam 30 has a groove 33 which receives the'rol'ler 31 arranged between the collars 32, one at least of these collars being arranged so that it saddles the top of the cam and is thus prevented from rotating with the shaft 15.

A clipping means is mounted so as to traverse the hat, and in the machine illustrated comprises suit-able clipping devices arranged so that they can be brought to bear cn the hat t0 clip its surface, the preterred arrangement being` to arrange one ,clipping device 34 so that it operates onthe top of the brim 24, that is, the upper surface of the brim, and is adapted to be swung away from said brim and also brought back to the brim by the arm 35 pivoted at 36 and actuated by a cam 37 on the jack shaft 38, this jack shaft being,T driven from the main shaft by means of the gears 39 and 40.

i A similar clipping device 41 is arranged at a place so that it Will clip the bottom aceof the brim and is mounted on an arm 42 actuated by a cam 43 on the jack shaft 38,' and a clipping device 44 for the crown l is mounted on an arm 45 and is actuated by thecam 46. These clipping devices Will be described in detail hereinafter.

.The hub l2 of the standard ll is provided with means for swinging it through an angle of at least ninety degrees, the form shown comprising,- a crank 47 having` a pin 48 and resting in the slot 49 or" the bar 50,7Which`bar has a roller 51 on the end of it which is arranged in the slot 52 o'l the cam 53 on the jack shaft 38. Theivvhole device is operated through suitable belting arranged over the fast pulley 54 and the loose' pulley' 55. Any suitable stopping and startingmeans, either manual or automatic, can be installed to regulate the startinge;` and stopping,` of the machine;

l The clipping devices are shown in detail in Figures 5-8 and comprise. a casing 56 which has a top vplate 57 which has an opening at the top and to which is'attached an outlet pipe 58 by suitable means,` such as a union connection 59, to which is attached a hose 60 (see Fig.'V l), which is attached to any suitable source oit suction so that the clip-pings from the' fur are withdrawn and do not float about in the air to the detriment ot' the health of the operator.

rllhe ,casing 56 is provided on one end With a Vbearing 60 for one end of the shaft 6l. The other end of the shaft, as at 62, is arranged so that it is support-edV b-y a bearingr plate 63, which bearingplate is substa-ntially flat and is fastened by screws 64 on itsrear end and has a bearing 65 for the shaft. Gil, and has a lug 66 into which the bolt 67 is sore-Wed, the bolt 67 also passing through the *bosses 68 of the top plate 57, so that all the parts are securelyrheld together.

The plate G3, with its substantially flat formation, permits the use of the critter close up to aI corner7 for instance at thepoint Where the brim is attached to the crown. ln addition to this it leaves no marks on the crovvn of the hat wherer this sideof the cutter bears on it, this form of plate permitting the end of the'rotary cutter 69 to extend nearly to the outside edge of Y the casing.

AThe Vshaft 6l is operated'by means vof a suitable flexible sha't'ting 70 which ypreferably has its end 71 fastened in the end of the shaft by means ofl a screw or other fastening' placed in the hole 72. i A rocking plate 7 3 has secured-to its front end a cutter bar 74, which cutter bar has its front edge '75 adapted to be engaged by the blades ot the rotary cutter G9 to clip the material of the hat, and to compensate for Wear on the cutter' and cutter pla-te the rocking pla-te 73 is adjustable in bearings, which bearings in turn are adjustable. For this purpose the rocking plate '73 is provided With bosses 74a on its ends, these being recessed each to receive a ball 75a. which permits the boss, and consequently the rocking plate, to rock on the ball, the stem 7 8 of the ball being supported by a spring' 7 7, the tension of which is adjustable by means of the nut 7 8 screvvthreaded on the stem 76, .the lower end of the spring abuttingv on the bottom 79 of a screw-threaded sleeve 80 having a suitable head or 'linger-piece 81.

T he rocking plate can be designed so that its cutting' plate has its cutting edge properly positioned relative to the rotary cutter 69 by means of a. strand 82 which eX- tends through the supporting element 83,

which can be eithera handle or one'ofl the' arms 35, 42 or 45, and is provided on its end with a nut 84. On the `other end it hasl a head placed in the post 86 of the rocking plate 73, and a spring 87 holds the rocio ing plate in its adjusted positions, but with a resilience which makes it possible to give the end of the cutter plate. 74 a line adjustmeut as to its 'pressure against the rotary cutter. y

I prefer to provide means for roughing up the fur. one means comprising a set of steel or similar spring Wires 88 fastened by a strip 89 or by other means to the front of the frame, and a plate 90 extends down from the-bottom of the top plate to nearly the bottom of the machine to pro-vide only sufficient opening for the strands of the velour to be clipped.

It will be evident from Figure 6 that the material, as at'91, is closely matted very often and it is suihciently scraped bythe wires 88 to loosen it and to raise it to a considerableextent, as at 92, but the suction of air enteringv the casing, due to its being exhausted through the pipe 60, causes the velour to stand up,"as at 93, so that a substantially even cutis provided` over the entire surface of the hat. To insurev such suction of air through the-opening at the bottom of the casinaV I provide a plate 94, usually made of spring brass and extending from one side of the frame to the other, which bears against or substantially close to a shoulder 95 on the front part of the rocking plate,

1t will be evident that as the cutting edge wears down the rocking plate 73 must be re-adjusted, which can be done by turning the sleeve 80, which is screw-threaded in the casing, and this without altering the pressure of the spring 77, which spring insures at all times a proper 4and tight seating of the bosses 74 and consequently of the rocking plate in the frame. It will be evident from an inspection `of Figures l and 3 that the flexible shafts 70 and the pipes 60 can be provided with suiiicient slack so that the arms 35, 42`and 45 can be swung without affecting the operation of these parts.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Then the machine is ready to start, the cams 37, 43 and V46 are in such position as to .swing the clipping means down away from the hat, or rather the hat supporting block 22, and then the hat 23 is put in place. As the machine starts these cams operate to swing theclipping devices into position,

those embracing the brim 'having guide plates, as 96, on the clipping device 4l, and as 97 on the clipping device 34, these plates being preferably made of brass and having curved ends so as to receive the edge of the brim into the open mouth and then guide it between the cutter plates 74 and each of its guide plates, these guiding plates also acting to hold the brim into position while it is being cut. As these clipping devices take position the hat is rotated by means of the mechanism hereinbeiore described for at least one complete rotation, and then the cams 37 and 43 operate to swing the brim clipping devices 34 vand 4l away from the hat, since the clipping ofthe brim is now completed.

The clipping device 44 that is clipping the crown remains in position and the cam 30 now begins to slide the hat backward, since the shaft l5 is pulled backward, and as this backward movement begins the cam 53 operates to swing, through the crank 47 the standard l1 so that the hat slowly assumes the position shown at a in Figure 4,

that is, it is half way around, having turned about forty-five degrees, the turning point being substantially in line with the center of the clipping device 44, and this continues until the hat arrives at the position shown at in Figure 4, which is at right angles to the position the hat originally was in. As this is clipped the cam 46 acts to swing the clippingdevice 44 away from the hat and the cam 56 operates to swing the arm 11 back to its normal lposition and the cam 30 acts to push the shaft 15 and the hat that it supports back to its normal position, and the hat can be removed from the machine and another hat substituted for a repetition of the above described steps.

It will be understood that minor details can be altered, and that parts can be differently assembled and proportioned, without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

l. A hat clipping machine comprising a hat support including a block to hold a hat with its crown taut and shaped, a clip-A ping device, and means for moving the parts so that the clipping device traverses the entire crown of the hat.

2. A hat clipping machine comprising a hat support including a block to hold a hat with its crown taut and shaped and its brim extended, a clipping means, means for rotating the block, means for moving the clipping means, and means for actuating the hat support so that the clipping means travcrses the crown and both faces of the brim.

3. Ahat clipping machine comprising a hat support including a block to hold a hat with its crown taut and shaped, a clipping means, and automatic means for moving the parts so that the clipping means traverses the hat.

4. A hat clipping machine comprising a rotatable hat support including a hat block to hold a hat with its crown shaped and its brim extended` a clipping device for the crown, a clipping device for both faces of the brim, means for moving said devices into and out of contact with the hat, and means for rotating the block and the support so that the clipping devices traverse the hat.

5. A hat clipping machine comprising a rotatable support, a longitudinally slidable hat holding block on said support, means for sliding the block, means for rotating the support, and clipping devices disposed so as to traverse the hat when thc support is rotated and the block is slid.

6. A hat clipping machine comprising a rotatable support, a slidablc hat holding` block on said support, means for rotating the support, means for longitudinally sliding the block, arms swingable toward and from the hat, clipping devices on the arms, and operative connections between the support, the block and the arms to canse the clipping devices to traverse the hat to clip the fur on the entire outside surface of the hat.

7. A hat clipping machine comprising a support, a block on the support for holding a hat, a clipping device bearing on the crown, a clipping device bearing on the top ot' the brim, a clipping device bearing on the bottom of the brim, and operative connections for moving the parts so that the clipping devices traverse parts ot the hat, whereby the whole surface is clipped in one operation.

8. A hat clipping machine comprising a means for supporting a hat so that it is i sented Vto `the clipping device.

9. A clipping device comprising a trarne, a shaft inthe trame, ay rotary cutter mounted on the shaft, athln bearing' plate on one side of the frame, in which iframe one end of the rotary shaft 1s supported, wherebyl the cutter can be operated on the brim of a hat and closely adjacent to the crown.

10. A clipping device comprising a frame, a shaft in the frame, one Wall of the fra-me being` thin and having` an inwardly projectingrecessed bearing to receive the shaft, and a cutter on the shaft and recessed to receive they bearing. i

ll. A clippingdevice comprising a fram having an integral side Wall.` a thin side Wall having a recessed bearing on its inner face, a top plate having an opening` for the attachment of an exhaust pipe, the top plate having lugs thereon, `a screw passing through the integral Wall of the frameand the lugs of the top plate and being in screw-threaded .eneagement with theend of the thin side plate, a bearing `in the fixed Wall, a shaftpassing through the bearing and having' its end zin the recessed bearing of the thin sidevplate, and a cutter on said shaft, the cutter; being'reeessed to receive the last mentioned bearing. V

12. A cl`pping device comprising a frame, a rotarycutter mounted therein, a rocking plate, acutter-plate :tastened'to the front oit' the rocking` plate and against which the rotary cutter visadapted to bearto operate, screw-threaded sleeves in the frame, a Cstem of November, 1920.

FERDINAND E. KAUFFMANN.

40 vin the sleeves, bearings on the rocking plate, l 

